Hello Nadee and all, thanks for this update.
I appreciate the trend towards supporting Wikimedia fellows with this program -- who could help their host organizations learn how to make their work compatible with free knowledge projects. They could also bridge our current wikimedia communities + the sources we draw on, with the communities working with and through these hosts. It seems a step in that direction to ensure that each recipient has some champions within the current movement, through the updated selection + nomination process.
Lodewijk writes:
given the large backlog that we're dealing with in knowledge equity, I'm
not very afraid that we'll have to worry about overcrowding in this space for a while.
I personally think we may be reasonably well located for this - maybe not
to be the most important funder, but we will have the chance to make a difference.
I am however convinced that where it comes to climate change there are
many other organizations that are much better positioned. Of course, this is likely very subjective :)
This! Also, to one of Steven's points, people working on underserved languages and topics should certainly be able to get sources or equipment to create media for Commons. And direct grants in the form of modest [student] scholarships can be beloved and culturally impactful programs for building communities of people advancing shared goals. These are not mutually exclusive. I'd love to see a portfolio model of ecosystem support where it is available at every scale from $100- to $100K+. At which point we could see where we feel best located to make a difference.
Humidly, SJ